Aretha Franklin Announces She's Retiring From Performing: 'This Is It'
Aretha Franklin is ready to take her final bow.
The 74-year-old music icon revealed in an interview with Detroit’s WDIV Local 4 that she plans to stop performing after she finishes recording her album in September. "I must tell you, I am retiring this year," she shared. "This will be my last year. I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it."
Franklin added that she will continue to do "some select things, maybe one a month, for six months out of the year," and hopes fans are excited to learn that Stevie Wonder is producing a few songs on her upcoming album, which will feature original material.
"I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from, and where it is now," the "Respect" singer added. "I'll be pretty much satisfied, but I'm not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn't be good either."
WATCH: Aretha Franklin Nails Adele Cover on Late Show
Last August, Franklin canceled three shows due to "doctors' orders." A year prior, she also canceled a Las Vegas show because of exhaustion.
Franklin's shows will most certainly be missed in the music industry. Here's a look at her stunning performance of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, which had former first lady Michelle Obama, Carole King, and Viola Davis fangirling in the audience.
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